According to official sources, the accused has been identified as Imran and lived near the house of the innocent girl Zainab in Kasur.

Police sources said that the accused was taken into custody some days ago but was released after investigation, adding that he has been arrested again after his DNA matched evidence found in the case during the medical examination.

The accused, according to police, has confessed to the heinous crime.

The seven year-old-girl was found raped and killed last week, about five days after she had gone missing from her home. Police say the girl was kidnapped near her home when she was on her way to take a Quran class. Her parents were in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.

The Punjab Government had replaced head of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to investigate killing and rape of Zaina.

The victim’s father expressed reservations over Abu Bakar Khuda Bakhsh heading the JIT , the provincial government appointed RPO Multan Idress Ahmad to head the probe.

“It has been learnt that the JIT head – Additional IGP Abubakar Khuda Bakhsh – is a ‘Qadiani’,” said Mr Ameen at a press conference in Kasur on Thursday while rejecting the probing team’s leader tasked by the Punjab chief minister.

Shehbaz Sharif had constituted a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) comprising members of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB).